Buprenorphine antidepressant

Common Questions and Answers about Buprenorphine antidepressant

suboxone

since you have had problems with depression in the past, talk with your primary physician about the possible benefits of taking an antidepressant while coming off of the narcotics. Since some of them have anti-anxiety properties they might be ever more so helpful during this time.

Dear Doctor:
Is it possible to switch from methadone 60mgm.'s to buprenorphine eight mgm's? When will our family physician be able to prescribe buprenorphine for maintenace or detox purposes?
Does methadone or other opiates have to be out of our systems to switch to buprenorphine for maintenace or detox purposes? How long does bup. stay in our body for maintenace reasons? Would you take you dose daily or q 72 hours?Thank you for your reply.
Dan...

I am positive Buprenorphine is not in Wellbutrin. Suboxone contains Buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is an opiate. Wellbutrin contians Bupropion -- although the names sound/look alike- Bupropion is an antidepressant, not an opiate. Many addiction specialists recommend going on an anti-depressant while going through any detox. Our dopamine, etc levels are extremely depleted from drug abuse and Bupe is a very strong opiate.

Possibly but not probably. Buprenorphine would work on the opiate side of things, but not on the antidepressant properties of Tramadol. Plus, most doctors don't recognize the abuse potential of Tramadol. I believe most every doctor would suggest a Tramadol taper over a Suboxone detox.

Paradoxically, for many people caught up in this vicious cycle, the best (sometimes only) option is to switch to a LESS powerful pain killer, combined with antidepressant or anti-seizure medications in order to reduce or block the flow of pain neurotransmitters.
If you are in the United States, find the nearest addictionologist and ask about switching to Suboxone. It combines a narcotic pain killer (buprenorphine) with an anti-addiction drug (naloxone).
If you are outside of the U.S.

Benzos are contra indicated with buprenorphine. Th few people that have overdosed with Suboxone have taken benzos as well. That being said, some doctors will prescribe it with Suboxone. Is it a good idea? Probably not. The mainline defense against anxiety is an antidepressant, not benzos.

the problem with the suboxone is that you will build up a tolerance to it and need more and more for the same effect and when you do want to kick it, if it is anything like other opiates, you will go through hell. no desire to try to find an antidepressant that works for you? takes a lot of patience and trial and error but maybe you just haven't found the right one.
i know how bad depresseion can be. sending you love and hope for whatever you decide to do.

I believe that de-tox fascilities are now prescribing Buprenorphine for opiate withdrawl. I ordered a batch from an overseas pharmacist to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't experiance any euphoria from this drug, but I did feel a little numb all over, indicating this to be a powerfull pain reliever.

People with Mild to Moderate depression have found relief in Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) or Subutex. However, beware that Buprenorphine, although only being a partial opiate-agonist has a VERY high affinity for the same receptors in your brain as painkillers/heroin. So you will become addicted to it and will become very, very sick for quite a long time if you stop it. Dosages as low as 2mg (4mg max) should be all you need.

Also, it will not decrease the antidepressant withdrawal effects from the Tramadol..only an antidepressant will do that (which can take weeks to kick in). I think you're experiencing the reason that almost all Suboxone doctors will not detox people from Tramadol with Buprenorphine.

I am going to continue to go down 1mg a day until I get to 30mg and then I am going to switch to Suboxone (Buprenorphine). All the while I will be exercising. I haven't been taking methadone for too terribly long and hope that I will be OK. Please, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

After almost two months of this, I am actually thankful we have this arrangement because it works!
I like the idea of a drug like buprenorphine for long term pain management. It sounds like it would be safer to use than say, Ultram, MMT or Oxy. Apparently my doctor still believes that opiates a the best answer for pain and I would like to show him that there are better alternatives out there. So keep us posted, Brian.
Vicky, I've been to both NA and AA and personally I think AA is better.

I was wondering if anyone here has any experience utilizing Buprenorphine (Suboxone) strictly for severe Refractory depression.
I happen to be a 17 year sufferer of severe antidepressant resistant depression. Since I was diagnosed many years ago with this illness, I have been on over 20 different antidepressants.

As you all might know, I am going C/T on June 13th, or attempt to do so from a 5 year Oxycontin addiction. Wondering does Effexor or any antidepressant meds help with withdrawal symptoms. i tried to taper today and couldn't, very depressed and anxious, instead I increased my daily dose. Trying again to taper.. so I will start the Thomas recipe soon and perhaps Effexor.

I just moved to a small town, will find out today if there is a pain doc in town to help. If there isn't, what about the buprenorphine and clonidine I read about in the old posts?
An interesting twist....my husband is a doc, which is a blessing and a curse as far as prescriptions. I've been very open with him about my struggle, and I know it's helping him in dealing with his own patients. He sure doesn't take prescribing these meds lightly anymore.

After that, they evaluate you and determine where you go from there with the buprenorphine (I think maintenance consists of taking a buprenorphine/naltrexone pill every day, but I'm not clear on that - perhaps my good friend Dan has a more accurate description).
Anyway, I haven't by any means ruled out methadone maintenance as a solution for me. There are a lot of pluses compared to the minuses for this option.

We've been together for a couple of weeks only
We do have sex quite regularly, but I also wonder if the buprenorphine is cutting down his sex drive a bit. Our sex is quite quiet and he hardly ever takes the initiative. I don't want to ask him about his sex life before me - I only asked him once if he really goes for having sex... I know that the side effects of buprenorphine are tiredness, floppiness etc...

Congratulations indeed. I too can relate to your feelings of depression and it does sound like you may be depressed. But I applaud the fact that you are motivated enough to hit the gym three times a week because a lot of us say we are going to do this & that and we don't! Most addicts became addicts because they are depressed to begin with and the narcotics cover it up as "lurker" wrote in his comments to you.

Some things you might look into are
Valerian Root - an herbal supplement that can help reduce anxiety and aid in sleep.
Trazodone - a prescription antidepressant that is currently prescribed more often as a sleep than as an antidepressant. I believe it is related to the tricyclic family of ADs
Benedryl - an OTC antihistamine that helps some. I don't like it because it leaves me feeling groggy for too long.

The depression comes and goes but from what I have read, I have had an easier time with this than others. Have you considered going on an antidepressant for just the short term (Like 3 months) while you finish your taper and detox? This might be something that you want to talk to your doc about...
Buprenorphine likes to screw with your mind... which is why a lot of people hit PAWS a little worse coming off the bupe than full on agonists.
Are you doing your taper with your doctor?

I will agree with you that Opiate and Opioid based drugs have an amazing antidepressant effect. They have the ability to completly vaporize even the worst depression.
There have been some controlled studies done using Opioid based drugs in the treatment of very severe refractory depression that do not respond to traditional medication therapy. The results were very positive, but this study did not go into the long term effect these drugs had on each patients depression.

All the stuff about Gooberman is about UROD (ultra rapid detox), not about his use of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine works great. If you want to go through withdrawal without it, fine, be ready for a week of hell. If you have $200 or so, go to him and spare yourself. Your choice.

The tramadol make you happy because they are as much an antidepressant as a pain pill. Everybody feels happy when the serotonin in your brain gets bumped up a lot. But the tramadol merely create an illusion. They heal nothing. And they turn on on you.
About your dental work. There is never a good time to stop taking the narcotics. There is only the right time. You would be surprised how many refuse the narcotics for any dental work.

Despite my late-night confessional post admitting to loving drugs last week, I am SOOOO ready to get off of opiates using buprenorphine. But it seems like buprenorphine is the exclusive province of this Dr Gooberman guy! Who is he? Why is he the only source of this apparent wonder drug? Please, someone, anyone reading this post who knows how I can get on buprenorphine in Southern California right now PLEASE help me. I simply don't understand why everytime I hear about bup, this Dr.

As far as dealing with the addiction/dependence, he has to get through a lot more than the initial withdrawal or he may likely relapse. Suboxone (Buprenorphine), as was mentioned can be a great help for some. A good source for info on that is naabt.org. Lots of great info on both the addiction side and depression side of the issue.
I suffer from refractory depression and have for most of my 55 years.

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